Reflections on Day Two

We are just about to board the bus to visit the estate of Doka, where we will be planting new seedlings as one of our activities for today.

Yesterday we spent time that was entirely different from visiting the estate of Bella Vista on Tuesday. We visited two cooperatives two hours (on a long and very steep, winding road) away from San Jose. The first farm was owned by a family who have been working in coffee for three generations and are one of the host farms for the work we are doing with the Earthwatch Institute. They were so proud to have visitors and show us the work they do on their 2 hectare farm. They are part of the cooperative of Terrazu, which is a collection of 2500 farms in the area.

Before lunch, we visited a local high school, where even though it is summer vacation in Costa Rica, the principal and three of her students met with us so that they could share the benefits their school receives from the cooperative through their partnership with Starbucks. Many in the room were emotional (including me, surprise) when hearing the gratitude in her voice and to see how proud the students were of their school, and they let us know that without coffee, the school (and the town) would have nothing.

We had lunch at the co-op mill in Terrazu and watched a presentation from Earthwatch before getting back on the bus to head to Coope Dota, another cooperative in the central valley serving 850 farmers and their families. Again, the manager expressed that 90% of the town's economy was dependant on coffee, and their relationship with Starbucks has dramatically changed the standard of living for not only the farmers and their families, but the entire town. He also shared with us all of the "green" practices his mill is experimenting with, and they have the amazing goal of becoming the first carbon neutral processing mill in the world! When we asked what we could do, he simply said "we need to work harder and manage our costs to protect the industry".

Today, prepare a french press and share it with the customers in the cafe, the partner standing beside you, your family at home, or the person who works next to you at the office. Instead of the usual connection you have over the press, connect about the press. I challenge your to find out someting new about the actual coffee and its origin, and to really slow it down to go through the four tasting steps. The coffee deserves nothing less.

Adios, Cindy GH